the ian william craig record (almost the only thing i recognise on that list) i is beautiful, craig's vocals put through who knows what processes, a very unique record (unfortunately sold out).

an old recommendation: the early jliat cds ca. 1997 (the nature of nature, etc.), very deep synth-based drones that take up the 76-79 minutes of the cd.

other drone favourites are the recordings of abandoned telegraph wires by alan lamb on dorobo ca. 1995, and the vlf recordings on irdial (that i'm not sure count as drones, but are fascinating).

very old: artemiev's work on stalker

finally, a recent find is the ariel kalma retrospective on rvng, some pieces on the second side (i'm not sure old or new) are very hypnotic vocal/looping type stuff that would not be out of place here.

This reminded me of Ben Watson's amusing and surprising position on drones from his excellent Derek Bailey biography:

"A drone has a very different emotional resonance to either the urgent chord sequences of jazz or the electricity dependent feedback of rock: it tends towards folkish melancholy, regret and nostalgia for everything modernity has destroyed. In trained musicians (who are really, after all, superannuated craftspersons from a previous mode of musical reproduction), it brings out a latent conservatism. Moreover the large space necessary for so many musicians recording together at a single place and time results in 'classical' blurring of player individuality, an acoustic blend whose symphonic aura is the very opposite of the in-your-face immediacy of jazz and rock records..."

I dont know anything at all about Helm, but he sounds like he knows his stuff.

Two fascinating things about drone for me: 1) The wide scope of the genre, ranging back to 50's and 60's electronic experimentalism, the peripheries of Jazz and 'world' music, and then on through noise, ambient, post punk weirdness and new electronica & post-rock from the 90's on, and 2) The experience of listening and the textural sensitivity evoked... it's like reducing a palette down to one colour and exploring tiny variations in shade and tone, or being stuck in the pitch black out in the country somewhere and your vision gradually adjusting until you can almost make out faint shapes in the darkness.

the ian william craig record (almost the only thing i recognise on that list) i is beautiful, craig's vocals put through who knows what processes, a very unique record (unfortunately sold out).

an old recommendation: the early jliat cds ca. 1997 (the nature of nature, etc.), very deep synth-based drones that take up the 76-79 minutes of the cd.

other drone favourites are the recordings of abandoned telegraph wires by alan lamb on dorobo ca. 1995, and the vlf recordings on irdial (that i'm not sure count as drones, but are fascinating).

very old: artemiev's work on stalker

finally, a recent find is the ariel kalma retrospective on rvng, some pieces on the second side (i'm not sure old or new) are very hypnotic vocal/looping type stuff that would not be out of place here.

Yeah, Im a big fan of that Ian William Craig record.

Loads of crossover with soundtracks... Under the Skin probably the most recent great white hope for weirdo OST's.

This reminded me of Ben Watson's amusing and surprising position on drones from his excellent Derek Bailey biography:

"A drone has a very different emotional resonance to either the urgent chord sequences of jazz or the electricity dependent feedback of rock: it tends towards folkish melancholy, regret and nostalgia for everything modernity has destroyed. In trained musicians (who are really, after all, superannuated craftspersons from a previous mode of musical reproduction), it brings out a latent conservatism. Moreover the large space necessary for so many musicians recording together at a single place and time results in 'classical' blurring of player individuality, an acoustic blend whose symphonic aura is the very opposite of the in-your-face immediacy of jazz and rock records..."

interesting timing for this thread, the dia foundation just opened a new location for la monte young's nyc dream house in chelsea. i think the original tribeca location still exists but is temporarily closed.